In which we rejoin our hunters as they deal with the aftermath of their Pyhrric Victory. Mses. Douglas and Thanero breakfast together and welcome a returning resident of Hargrave House.
---------------------------
Content Warnings: Suggestive Comments, Descriptions of Gore, Medical Horror, Drowning, Ocular Trauma, Body Horror, Harm to Rats
Shadows in the Smoke S2E1 – “A Long, Cold Summer”
Kim
Victoria’s England has been suffering through a long, cold summer. People are already calling it “the summer without a sun.” Crop failures, typhus and cholera outbreaks, and a general malaise plague the island and the Empire beyond. But Hargrave House has bigger problems. The chimerical monstrosity once called Augustus Hutchinson drags his victims beneath the murky waters of the Thames, the Whateley Camera continues to warp the world around it, and new dangers appear every day, seeking to take advantage of London’s vulnerable state. Will the Hunters be able to stand strong against those who want to tear down the walls of reality, or will they lose their way amongst the ghosts of their past and the shadows in the smoke.
[Shadows in the Smoke theme]
Kim
Hunters, it’s been some time since I’ve checked in on you. I’m curious to hear how it is you’ve spent this time. Let’s begin with Miss Douglas.
[Rain falls]
Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Hello, you stupid book. It’s been a while. I used to feel like I was always too busy to write anything down, but that’s just not true anymore. Anyway, I never know where to start with these. There’s a lot to catch you up on, so let’s start with the fundamentals. Rabbit has left. So has Hutch - or the creature that was once Hutch. The house is inhabited still, but only by strangers. Ena is always out. Albertina is dead. Beulah is mourning. Merlin is around less and less. The Crimson Gentleman is… complicated. Not sure how I would explain that one to the household, not that there is a household to explain it to.
My room feels smaller now that there is no sunlight. A lot of artwork I purchased in Cremorne Gardens was ruined in the fire. The bell tower stairs are still down there at the end of this interminable hall. The scents of incense and rock salt are absent downstairs. I’ve seen servants more time this week than I’ve seen Ena all month. In the silence, I can hear it more and more now; the whistling, whispering voice that sits at the base of my skull. I hear it loudest when I sit on the roof. The saltwater thrums in my veins to the beat of the crashing of the waves. My hands twitch on their own. I don’t like going to the roof anymore.
I’ve taken up sewing - never realized how often I put a hole in my clothes - but I guess spending all night drinking in a pub will yield certain results. Hey, it means I’m writing in you, so you’re welcome for that. And I reckon I know where to take a date on any given night. The Blackwater has the best band, but the Crown and the Swan has the most room for dancing. As for the dates, I don’t usually get their names. (soft laugh) What’s the use? A smile and a drink is enough. The lucky few get a moment on the dance floor and another in the alley out back; the unlucky few get walked to the pier so I can quiet the whispering when it gets too loud. It must be devastating, dying without seeing the sun one last time.
[Roll of thunder]
Kim
And Miss Thanero, what is it that you’ve been up to?
[Pleasant orchestral music]
Cassandra
The sunless summer that followed the confrontation aboard The Revenge belonged to Ena. With Theodora Braithwaite banished to silent obscurity and tales of her Olympian-like exploits coursing through the echelons and bowels of London, she accepted the city’s adoration with practiced grace. Invitations arrived by the dozens - private dinners, aristocratic salons, masquerades where whispers followed her like perfume. Woven throughout this tapestry of praise were quieter rumors of frequent visits to the asylums, prisons, and seedy streets where London’s lowest passed to the next realm, comforted by glowing golden eyes and an otherworldly breeze, even inside closed rooms. She was no longer hiding what she was. She wore victory as effortlessly as silk, allowing the city to believe it had elevated her when in truth, it had simply remembered who she was. Beneath the glittering veneer of high society, another court gathered. Her faithful multiplied in drawing rooms, candle-lit parlors, and forgotten chapels beneath the city.
[An uneasy shift against the pleasant music]
New worshipers knelt eagerly, drawn not by promises of salvation but by the intoxicating certainty she carried. To stand in her presence was to feel seen, measured, and quietly found wanting, and still crave her approval. The watery moat surrounding the masterwork had begun to boil with so many faces turned upon it. The salteen blue deepening to a vibrant shade of crimson, staining the pristine marble with bubbling splatters of blood.
She sent discreet missives across Britain and the continent, following every rumble that hinted at her uncle’s movements or the monster’s shadow left behind by Mr. Hutchinson. Despite everything, she knew that thread could not be left without a knot, lest it unravel them both in equal measure. If there remained even the smallest chance that the man she once knew still survived beneath the monster, she would find a way to pull him from beneath the waves and ensure his debt was paid. Not for his benefit, but for hers. Most intoxicating of all was the return of herself. For too long she had tolerated the indignities of mortality, softening her edges, pretending at vulnerability, allowing the rhythms of human life to dictate her own. No longer. The mask had become unnecessary. Wisdom had teeth again. Power answered when she called. She found she missed neither humility nor anonymity. London called her its savior, her followers called her goddess, and Ena had begun to remember there was very little difference.
[A bustling city street]
Kim
And today, on the first day of fall, a carriage moves through the city of London, slows to a stop, and someone gets out. Could you describe them please?
Madeleine
We see a pair of well-worn boots click to the street. Panning up we see a body. Tall, broad through the shoulders, dressed to deny it. A brown double-breasted waistcoat, all but the last button done. An iron chatelaine, swinging at the waist with a swiss-army approach of quick-draw tools and objects of convenience. A dark green woolen skirt that is not, upon closer inspection, entirely a skirt. There are buttons down the side, sometimes there are pants under there - it depends on the work. A green turban wraps around her full hairline. Her cheekbones are sharp, her cheeks windchapped from months in the East, and there are soft lines webbing from the corners of her eyes - though the deepest line on her face is the one between her brows. That one’s been there for years. The line you get from doubting things professionally. She pulls off her calfskin gloves as she approaches the bodies.
Kim
You are stopped by a young constable - pale, shaking. You can see what remains of his breakfast on the ground near the banks of the Thames.
Constable Adams (Kim)
How’s your stomach, ma'am? Is it strong?
Unknown Hunter (Madeleine)
From years of experience, absolutely.
Constable Adams (Kim)
Not quite sure if you’re experienced in something like this.
Kim
And he motions behind him towards a bloated corpse that has been pulled out of the Thames. Mangled. Partially eaten. Brutalized by some impossible creature.
Madeleine
She takes a step towards the young constable, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Unknown Hunter (Madeleine)
What was your name, son?
Constable Adams (Kim)
Adams, ma'am.
Unknown Hunter (Madeleine)
Adams. Why don’t you sit yourself right over there, and I will… deal with this.
Madeleine
As she heads over to the corpse, squats down, both gloves off, she puts her hands against the flesh to see how long it’s been there. Carefully lifting up a hand, what’s left of the other hand, and starts to look at this brutalized body.
Kim
I’d like you to make the information move with reason.
Madeleine
That is an 8 on the die but a 10 total.
Kim
As your expert hands inspect this mangled corpse, you notice something very unusual about the body. Not the way that it’s been torn apart – though indeed it has – but on the victim’s skin there is something… drawn? No clawed upon its chest. The image of a bright, burning sun.
[transition]
Kim
Welcome to Shadows in the Smoke Season 2. My name is Kim Dalton, she/her. I am your GM for this second season of The Between. I am joined around the table by a couple familiar faces, please introduce yourselves, and who it is that you’ll be playing.
Cassandra
Hi, I’m Cass Parker, I am still playing the lovely Miss Ena Thanero, and my pronouns are she/they.
Natalia
Hi, I’m Natalia Montgomery Fernandez, my pronouns are she/her, and I am also still playing Maesie Douglas
Kim
Can I have our newcomer join us as well?
Madeleine
Hello, hello, my name is Madeleine Heil, she/they, and I will be playing The Mother, Dr. Branford.
Kim
(gasp) New playbook alert.
Natalia
Yay!
Cassandra
Woo!
Kim
SO, before we get into the day phase proper, let’s find out a little more about Dr. Branford. Now we already got your look, but can I get your vice please.
Madeleine
Seances.
Kim
Very intriguing.
Madeleine
Mmhmm
Kim
I like it very much. Now Madeleine, if you please, we’re going to do a little bit of an abbreviated session 0 here. If you could go ahead and read the italicized flavor text at the top of your Playbook and then the rest of us are going to think of items that will start in your personal quarters.
[A moody sonata]
Madeleine
Few understand the mysteries of human anatomy like you do. You are one of the most brilliant medical minds in London and could take your place as a lecturer at any number of esteemed academies. But you have different ideas, different plans; you are no longer interested in merely preserving life, but creating it! And so you’ll do what you must to survive – tending to the prostitutes dying of consumption, assisting Scotland Yard with grisly, forensic inquiry, and creeping about in the dark with these new people, these Hunters with whom you share a home – but always you are focused on the new life growing in your secret womb, your child, the one you hope will capture even the faintest reflection of the person you loved and lost.
Kim
So what do we think belongs in Dr. Branford’s very organized personal quarters?
Natalia
I think Dr. Branford should have a jar of graveyard dirt.
Cassandra
I’m going to give you a set of ceremonial scalpels from the Royal College of Surgeons for advancements in medical science.
Madeleine
Oooh!
Natalia
Goddamn.
Kim
Dr. Branford, what kind of surgeon would you be if you did not have on your person a stash of morphine?
Madeleine
Probably a good one, but, yeah.
Cassandra / Natalia
(laughing)
Kim
So welcome back! It’s been - a summer. Both for the characters and for us the players. So I will remind you – slash tell you for our brand new hunter – what all we still have to deal with, what threats still exist in London. I’ve got good news, the Pinkerton is no longer a problem (laughing).
Cassandra
I mean thank God, hate that guy.
Natalia
Blessed be.
Kim
After Augustus Hutchinson, the American, went fully feral and gave into the curse and the beast, it was not long before the Pinkerton, Winslow Taggard, numbered amongst the bodies. But we still have one threat left over from Season 1: The Whateley Camera.
Natalia
No.
Cassandra
(laughing through teeth) What is that again? I don’t know her.
Natalia
My nemesis. An inanimate object.
[music]
Kim
Two night phases remain to resolve the Whateley Camera before it falls into the hands of the mastermind, whoever they may be this season. Thus far you’ve gathered four clues for a complexity 8 question. The question being, “What circumstances will cause someone photographed by the camera to disappear.” Answering that question unlocks two opportunities. The first one resolves the threat by reversing the process and bringing Penelope Levy back to this world, and the second opportunity, “use the camera to transport yourself to the Fragrant Void and make contact with The Entity there.” Doing so gives you all access to the custom move Void-walker.
Cassandra
We do love a custom move here.
Natalia
I love a custom move.
Kim
It’s a very fun custom move. A potentially risky one, but most are. But with this brand new day there is a brand new threat.
Cassandra
Oh, we’re just getting right into it.
Madeleine
Ruuude.
Natalia
I -- hate everything.
Kim
Or should I say, the return of a familiar face. This threat is called “The Cursed.”
[ominous music]
Kim
Your companion, Augustus Hutchinson, succumbed to their terrible curse. They sprouted multiple limbs and hands, combining elements of different animals into a misshapen monstrosity. Hargrave House is aware of legends and monstrous amalgamations like this, though none have ever been spotted in London before. The attacks have continued all summer. The most recent are: a bricklayer called David Hawkins was found eviscerated at a building site on Baker Street; a sex-worker, Miss Elvina Thompkins, claims to have seen a “terrible, multi-limbed monster stalking around Clapham Common,” where she plied her trade until very recently; and a wealthy judge living at 14 Portman Square, Sydney Thornwick, claims to have chased the beast from his home, and that he put several bullets in it and it did not die. Your approach to stopping the creature will depend on whether the American’s transformation is permanent or reversible. I now pose the following to a hunter of my choice. Miss Thanero. The cursed will eventually return to Hargrave House, which is when you can make your move against it. How do you know for sure it will return?
Cassandra
All of these various attacks have been happening around London almost in a circular, whirlpool-like pattern. And the swirl is getting closer and closer to the nexus that is Hargrave House. So all of the attacks are inching ever so much closer to home.
Kim
There are layers of questions to this threat. I will tell you the first threshold question. Now, that question is simply “Is the transformation permanent or reversible?” It is a complexity 4. If Hargrave House ignores the Cursed, it will continue to kill, causing widespread panic throughout London. On the 3rd night phase, following the threat’s introduction, it will attack Hargrave House. Any plans for that phase will have to be abandoned so the Hunters can defend the mansion. The good news is that you already have 2, now 3 clues, thanks to Dr. Branford. So we’re already well on our way to answering that threshold question. Which is good. Things are getting a little dicey out there, Hunters.
Natalia
Getting?
Cassandra
Sounds like it’s been bad.
Kim
I feel it will only be worse, but, before that. Who’s up for a little breakfast?
Natalia
Let’s do it
Cassandra
I could eat.
Madeleine
Branford cannot work on an empty stomach, so….
[birds chirping, a roaring fireplace]
Kim
So it seems like from both of your narrations, Miss Douglas and Miss Thanero, you haven’t seen much of each other recently. So finding each other at the breakfast table is a bit of a novelty.
Cassandra
Ena is sitting at the table, drinking her coffee and working a new needlepoint, as usual. A new staple that has arrived in Hargrave House over the summer is the presence of her worshippers in the house. They are men, and they are all blind. Even if Maesie has tried to interact with them, they are under extremely strict rules to not acknowledge her. And another fun caveat of these gentlemen worshippers: Ena has also had their tongues cut out so they cannot repeat anything that they hear while they are in the house in her service. And there’s 3 or 4 of them milling about, making sure her coffee stays fresh. She does not acknowledge them, she just works the needlepoint, and sips her coffee.
Natalia
Maesie enters the kitchen, unsurprised to find these men. And similarly just moves about them at this point, no longer acknowledging their presence, just shoves one to the side when he’s in the way of the cabinet, and then turns and sees Ena sitting in the kitchen.
Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Ena. Pleasure to have you home for once.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Good morning, little pearl. How are you doing today?
Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Same as yesterday.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Is that… well?
Miss Douglas (Natalia)
You would know if you were around.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Oh come now, little pearl. It’s been a rather… busy summer for me. My dance card’s been significantly fuller than usual.
Miss Douglas (Natalia)
I know.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Weeeell, what have you been up to?
Miss Douglas (Natalia)
(exasperated sighh) Not much. Um, just the same, but without you. I did this –
Natalia
She bends her elbow to show a patch that she’s made. It’s kinda crude, it’s not very well done, you can tell that it’s there, but it holds and is sturdy.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well come over and let me see your work.
Cassandra
And Ena gestures for her to come over and stand next to her so she can inspect the patch.
Natalia
Maesie had been stacking things on a tray to take back to her room the way she usually has her breakfast these days. She’s sort of holding this tray, and then sets it down with a huff, and sits in a chair opposite Ena and just holds out her arm.
Miss Douglas (Natalia)
It’s not very good, I’m still getting better at it but it’s – it holds.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well, everyone has to start somewhere, little pearl. Practice makes perfect, and all. But as long as it holds it’s doing its job, so you’ve done well.
Cassandra
And she gives her kind of a, pat? Like, But it’s a little awkward because they haven’t spent any time together, but she’s kind of trying to ease the tension a little bit but – she doesn’t know how to deal with this right now.
Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Uh, thanks. Um, how are, how’ve you been?
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Oh, well, you know. I’ve been out, running around, visiting with my worshippers, going to masquerades, attending social gatherings - shopping, naturally,
Cassandra
And she gestures to the outfit she has on for the day, which is naturally something very avant-garde and sculptural for the period.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Do you like it?
Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Uh, yeah, no it- it’s certainly big. In a, in a good way! In a great way.
Cassandra
Ena squints a little at this, but gives a little smirk, ‘cause maybe the ice is thawing a little bit.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
You know if your clothes need constant tending, I could take you out and get you something new. Perhaps a fresh tartan?
Natalia
Maesie brightens at that.
Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Yeah, that would, I would like that, that’d be nice.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well then, it’s a date, we shall find a time.
Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Great.
Cassandra
Ena snaps for one of the servants to come over and take the food off of Maesie’s tray and put it on the table, and remove the tray.
Natalia
Maesie immediately stops and goes
Miss Douglas (Natalia)
No, um, that’s my - I, I can do that myself.
Cassandra
She snaps again, and he returns to his position by the door.
Madeleine
When this gentleman pops in the doorway, you see a broad-shouldered body slam into him.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Oh (flustered chuckles) excuse me! Oh, Oh! Hello! Finally! I catch you for breakfast! Don’t get up, no don’t! Oh good, oh is that coffee? Real coffee? I haven’t had a decent cup since Marseille, and the less said about Marseille, the better.
Madeleine
Branford looks over and sees Maesie.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Oh, hello. I don’t believe we’ve met. Dr. Branford. Lovely to meet you. Where are the boys? Not these ones–
Madeleine
Pointing to Ena’s gentlemen around the room.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
I have a thousand stories, and most of them are about camels, and I really need another bath despite having several since returning, but – oh, it’s so good to see you Miss Thanero! Mm! Hold on, I have gifts!
Madeleine
And she goes to the front door, grabs her Gladstone bag, comes back, she starts unpacking things.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
You know I’ve been carting these around hoping to catch you. And I couldn’t help it, I was quite disciplined the first few months when I was there, then I gave up entirely. Because when work turns into vacation turns back into work you need something to look forward to.
Madeleine
And she kind of, glances at both of them at the table, just, not saying anything.
Natalia
Maesie just has a piece of bacon, like halfway to her mouth.
Cassandra
Ena leans over to Maesie and says
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Just keep in the back of your mind it’s often very hard to get a word in edgewise with our good doctor.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Now I don’t know your name dear, what’s your name dear?
Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Maesie?
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Maesie…? Uhm, parentage? Uhh–
Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Douglas.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Miss Douglas, beautiful. Lovely to meet you. I don’t know you, so I’m afraid I will have to give you a “just in case” gift.
Madeleine
And she produces a wooden box inlay with mother-of-pearl
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
If you open it there are dates inside um, and Turkish Delight, they’re rather fancy, tasty treats in a rather pretty box. I don’t know what you like, so I’ve hedged. The dates are extraordinary. Everything in Egypt is extraordinary, or it’s trying to kill you. Or both, sometimes.
Madeleine
And she produces a large owl from the bag and slides it towards Miss Thanero.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
And for you, of course, 1st century. Roman-Egyptian, from a dealer in Alexandria. And don’t argue with me, it cost a lot of money. I paid him once, and then I went back again the next day, fearing I had underpaid, and paid him again. It’s a quite interesting mix of styles-
Madeleine
She’s pointing to like, the extended nose and the longer body, mixing the Egyptian and Roman styles.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
I thought you might find it rather interesting. And I have these for - uhh - Mr. Lloyd and for, uh, One Shot when they are awake, or back. I imagine One Shot hasn’t been home in a while (laughing)
Madeleine
And she’s chuckling to herself and looking at the horrified expressions on Maesie and Miss Thanero’s faces.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Oh, and there’s corpses everywhere. Bloated. Mangled. I’ll be checking some out later today. Uhm. Welcome back to Hargrave House, I guess.
Cassandra
Ena holds up a hand. For a moment, to quell her from continuing.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I have to be honest with you. We thought you died.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
None of my mail made its way? I know the weather was quite complicated and difficult, so I figured there might be complications, but I’ve been back for a few days. Renovations are lovely.
Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Sorry, who are you?
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Dr. Branford, I’ve been here 15 years, dear.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
She tends to go off on excursions and then come back whenever she pleases. But this time she was gone a rather significant amount of time. But it sounds like after Egypt you kind of went all over the place.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
I took quite a while to get back. I had several large crates that I had to cart around with me that made traveling rather difficult. Had to take the long way back, you see? The weather was very complicated we got stuck in Portugal for several months.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well of all the places to get stuck, Portugal’s quite lovely.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
It was alright.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well, you certainly have missed a great deal of exciting action I suppose. Many things we could have used your sage advice on. But to fill you in, Mr. Lloyd is no longer working for Hargrave House. He’s still around, but we won’t be seeing him.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Well, it happens.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
And as for One Shot John, um (clears throat), he’s still around.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Oh marvelous, I have this for him, I guess I will keep it on me in case I see him later.
Madeleine
And she puts a wrapped parcel back in her pocket.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I don’t know that you’ll get the opportunity to give that to him. And even if you did, I’m not sure he would appreciate it.
Natalia
Maesie takes the tray of dishes that she has now restacked and sort of dumps it aggressively and loudly in the sink.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Well, I have my coffee. It was lovely to meet you Miss Douglas, you said it was, yes? Lovely to meet you.
Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Yes, thank you for the box.
Natalia
Just sort of exits out of the room.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Mmm. I… Well…
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
She’s a little cross with me, I haven’t been around much this summer.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Understandable.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
One shot John is - now a problem that we have to deal with.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Oh. The Hargrave House kind of problem?
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Yes.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
I see.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Yes. He fell in with some not-great company and got himself into a bit of trouble. It was long before he even started here.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Is this a Roger kind of situation or a different kind of situation?
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
It’s a Roger kind of situation.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
And are we going to do something about it this time kind of situation?
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I fear we must. I have an approach I would like to try. But obviously the chips will fall where they may and we will deal with it however it must be dealt with.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Miss Thanero, I take your lead entirely on this. You know more and were here in my absence. I apologize, I should have come home sooner.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
No need to apologize, the weather’s been dreadful.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
It’s been dreadful everywhere.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Yes, that sounds about right.
Madeleine
With that, Dr. Branford is going to take her cup of coffee, grab another cup that’s on a tray, pour the contents of that into her cup, sip it from the top-
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
I uh, must grab a few things to get ready in my room, but I believe I have a date with some bodies. I don’t know what your plans are for the rest of today.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well, I’m going to continue sussing out where One Shot - we call him Hutch - he went by a variety of names in your absence. Going to try to suss out where he is. I’ve been sending notes all summer, and I’ve got a few ideas, but he’s definitely back in London after pillaging the countryside.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Excellent and dreadful. It is always easier to find a mark if they are closer to home.
Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Yes indeed.
Cassandra
And she takes a sip of her coffee, gets up, picks up the owl, hands it to a servant, and sends him off to put it in her quarters.
Madeleine
Dr. Branford is going to produce the item that she had for Mr. Lloyd.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Well, I guess he won’t be needing this anymore.
Madeleine
And she opens up a silver flask filled with date arrak with an ankh on the front of it. And she regards it, sets it down on the counter, and says -
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
I guess for when someone needs it.
Madeleine
And walks away.
Kim
Alright Hunters. Where to next?
Natalia
With all of the discussion of Hutch happening in the kitchen, Maesie wants to separate herself as much as possible from that so, she is gonna go to the Society Obscura to try and do some blood magic.
Kim
Miss Thanero, what about you?
Cassandra
I obviously, for myriad reasons, am very interested in resolving the cursed-
Kim
Sure
Cassandra
And being so close to hitting the threshold question, I think I’d like to take a trip to visit my masterwork and see if I can reveal something in the world about it.
Kim
Intriguing. I love it. And Dr. Branford?
Madeleine
While I would love to just go and put my hands in all of the bloated corpses that are popping up all around London, I do think Dr. Branford will be paying a visit to Sydney Thornwick to see what damage may have been done.
Kim
Let’s begin with Miss Douglas.
[Quiet street ambience]
Kim
You arrive at the Society Obscura. It’s a very quiet street. Unusually quiet for the busy neighborhood in London that it is in. You don’t see anyone on the sidewalk. There are no carriages parked outside. And as you draw closer to this building, you start to feel this buzzing - this thrumming in your head. The edges of this brick building seem blurred and faded, like an overdeveloped photograph. I have a “paint the scene” here. How can you tell that the Society Obscura and everyone in it, now exists partially within the Fragrant Void?
Madeleine
Any sounds made within the Society Obscura seem to be almost completely absorbed by the space, completely dead, lacking any sense of reverb or follow-through. Anything seems to be completely absorbed by the thickness of the air.
Natalia
People walk past the Society Obscura as if they do not see anything there. It does not draw attention, but it also doesn’t not draw attention that it does not draw attention. It simply does not exist in their eyes.
Cassandra
Within the walls of the Society Obscura, even though everything has this sepia tone tinge to it within, if you were to look along the floorboards and where the walls meet the ceiling, you would start to notice this purple-black, almost glittering drip coming down the walls and rising from the floorboards. It’s so slow it’s almost unnoticeable. But it’s as if the void is starting to take over the Society.
Kim
Miss Douglas what are you doing?
Natalia
Maesie makes her way through the Society to the room that was first investigated, the room with that door that doesn’t seem to go anywhere because it’s painted on the wall but is open in that photograph that they received.
Kim
That would be the Olympus Room and you would have found that photo among the personal effects of Morgan Lloyd. It was a photo that he took of the houseboy, Periwinkle.
Natalia
Maesie takes a moment to feel the edges of this painted door and fishes inside her pocket and pulls out the key to Mr. Higgins’s Shoe Shop, which should not fit in this door, and shouldn’t fit into the wall because it’s a wall, and she leans her head out into the hall and listens until she hears the little scritch-scratching of tiny footsteps. And very quickly reaches out and grabs a rat that’s running down the hall and pulls it into this room and shuts the door. She walks back over to this mural and takes the key, pulls this squirming rat in her hand and plunges it right into the middle of the rat, twists it, removes it, and puts it through the keyhole of this door.
Kim
Miss Douglas, this sounds like a Rite of Shell and Shadow.
Natalia
It is indeed, hopefully a successful one.
Kim
I will go ahead and read it because it’s been a minute. When you provide a blood sacrifice to the unquiet spirits tethered to this world, roll with sensitivity. And you may take this at advantage if you are marking the key to Mr. Higgins’s shop, Let me take a look at your conditions. Miss Douglas, you ended the last season with two: drained and sea-longing. I think it makes sense to clear drained over the summer-
Natalia
Sure
Kim
Considering that is more of a physical condition, but I’m curious to hear your thoughts on sea-longing.
Natalia
Uh - sea-longing I would say is definitely going to stay around, she has not done anything to remove that or make it better.
Kim
Even so, I don’t think it’s really affecting this particular role, so go ahead and roll Rites of Shell and Shadow with advantage please.
Natalia
Alrighty, be nice to me it’s day 1. (rolls dice) Ugh, not great, not terrible. But with my added bonus it will be an 8 on the dice, + 3, an 11.
Kim
On a hit, a ghost will appear and answer a simple question you pose it or perform a small task - your choice. On a 10+, as above, but you may choose whose ghost you wish to summon. The ghost will not ask for anything in return. Miss Douglas, who would you like to speak to?
Natalia
Now I don’t know if she’s technically a ghost, but I would like to summon Penelope Levy.
Kim
Indeed, hopefully if you resolve this threat, you will return Penelope Levy alive and well back to London, but, I say she’s certainly a spirit or a presence within the house, considering she’s spending most of her time in the Fragrant Void. I’ll allow it.
Miss Thanero, off to the British Museum, as you’re stepping out the door I must ask, what are you wearing today?
Cassandra
I thought you never would.
Kim
(laughing)
Cassandra
Okay, today Ena is dressed in a fitting black velvet riding jacket, cut almost like a military officer’s coat, cinched tightly at the waist with extraordinary exaggerated shoulders. Instead of a full crinoline, she wears a narrow walking skirt that splits over tailored black trousers. Beneath the jacket is a high ivory silk collar, embroidered with tiny silver owl feathers. In her hand she carries a silver owl-headed cane, she wears black leather gloves stitched with feather motifs. She has a small black hat with a single overly large white owl plume. She wears mens riding boots polished to a mirror finish. And she’s wearing silver sunglasses with green lenses.
Kim
How has the British Museum, or your room of the British Museum, changed - if at all - since the last time you’ve seen it?
Cassandra
The room is still locked off to anybody that has not decided to give up their worldly pleasures and live solely in service to Ena. The Elgin marbles that are next to it, however, are experiencing an influx of interest, especially since it’s not sunny out, and cold, a lot of people are spending time doing activities indoors. And a lot of people, throngs of people, are in the Elgin marbles exhibit right now. So as Ena is traversing this space and going up to the gallery to gaze upon the Masterwork, people are turning, they’re looking at her, waving at her. She takes all of it very gracefully, she does not make eye contact with anyone. Keeps her head held high, but throws a little wave here and there. A “hello” to all of her adoring worshippers that have come to learn more about Olympian history.
Kim
As you quietly slip into the doors of an exhibit labelled “closed for renovations” and approach the Masterwork, what are you doing?
Cassandra
The grace that Ena has when she is walking through the people falls off of her as she looks at this boiling moat of now blood-red salt water. The implements from the last person who gouged out their eyes upon looking at the Masterwork are still bloody. She has not required her servants to come in here and clean it. There is blood splattered all around the moat, there is now blood on the Masterwork itself. And she leaves it there and allows it to add to the ominous, disfigured painting in front of her.
Kim
Miss Thanero, are you interest in “Gazing Upon the Masterwork.”
Cassandra
I am interested in doing that because I have my Cosmic Passage marked.
Kim
Lovely, whenever you gaze upon the Masterwork in an attempt to uncover something hidden in the world, roll with sensitivity.
Cassandra
Alright, it is a 6 and a 3 on the dice, plus my 1, for a 10.
Kim
And Dr. Branford. You arrive at 14 Portman Square.
Madeleine
Yes, Dr. Branford will be arriving on her bicycle that has been refurbished by a former patient.
Kim
Oh fabulous. Dr. Branford, having worked at Hargrave House long enough, I don’t know if you know Judge Thornwick, in particular, but you do know 14 Portman Square. The former residents that used to live at that address enlisted the help of Hargrave House some years ago to exorcise a ghost. You arrive at the address. It is quite impressive. Covered in this dark, shiny wood. Bookcases filled with legal tomes. Busts of famous legal scholars on plinths can be seen as you are entering into this drawing room. “Paint the Scene.” 14 Portman Square was the site of a violent haunting that former residents of Hargrave House has to deal with. In what ways has 14 Portman Square been permanently scarred from the incident?
Madeleine
The bannister down the grand staircase in the foyer does not match the rest of the wood because it had to be replaced when several bodies were hurled against it, repeatedly, breaking it. Shattering it onto the floor. The scuffs still remain on the floor but the wood has since been replaced for the bannisters.
Natalia
The door to a room in the attic has remained locked since the haunting because anyone that still goes in that room to this day does not seem to come back out.
Cassandra
At first glance, all of the windows on the second floor look pristine, not broken, but if you were to look again you would see all of the glass in the second story windows is shattered.
Kim
Dr. Branford, arriving at this house unannounced, I think just waltzing on in-
Madeleine
Absolutely. No manners, walking in, immediately starts touching all the busts. Straightening anything that’s uneven. Knocks on the door but then pushes it open immediately.
Kim
You see a young maid who was like hurrying to the door but you beat her to it. She is quite young, she has wild red hair that like, cannot be contained by this bun that she’s trying to pull it into. She has many freckles.
Poppy the Maid (Kim)
Uh, Judge Thornwick? Do we have a visitor?
Kim
Dr. Branford, you hear some heavy footsteps coming down these stairs which are not original to the house. Judge Thornwick has a ruddy complexion, grey muttonchops.
Judge Thornwick (Kim)
What manners to just burst into someone’s home like this. You know I’ve suffered quite the attack. I am armed. You should be warned.
Madeleine
Dr. Branford immediately dips into a very deep curtsy.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Yes, of course, your Honor, I am so sorry. Dr. Branford, consulting with Scotland Yard, following up on a brief medical housecall for yourself regarding the incidents of late. I know you were not injured but I’ve been asked to follow up with any persons exposed to our subject at hand.
Madeleine
And she immediately walks over to him, opens her hand gesturing for him to come down, to sit down in one of the oversized chairs so she can conduct a quick examination.
Judge Thornwick (Kim)
Oh, Scotland Yard you say?
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Absolutely
Judge Thornwick (Kim)
I’m glad that there are top men working on it. Or you know. Women.
Madeleine
Branford is very used to dealing with these sorts of men that she works with and just very quickly brushes it aside.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Yes of course, men and women doing our best to make sure you are safe. Please, sit down, sir. Your Honor, I cannot believe the ordeal you went through. I hear you came out the other end the victor though, so congratulations.
Judge Thornwick (Kim)
Oh yes, Poppy, tea.
Poppy the Maid (Kim)
Yes sir.
Kim
And she scurries away to the kitchen.
Judge Thornwick (Kim)
I was honestly more intrigued by the creature than frightened of it. I put four bullets in the thing and that was after running it through with the saber that I keep on the mantle. A memento from my army days.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Incredible.
Madeleine
And while they’re talking, Branford is gonna remove her gloves, be taking his pulse, checking to see if he’s sweating and that’s normal, or if it’s just sweat as a symptom. It seems to just be a normal thing for this gentleman.
Kim
Yeah, I’m just gonna say that he’s just like a naturally sweaty guy. He’s like pretty like big and burly.
Madeleine
Yeah, yeah
Kim
You also notice he’s got wooden teeth.
Madeleine
Hm.
Kim
He’s sort of perfunctory rolling up his sleeve so you can take his pulse or check his blood pressure.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Excellent, excellent pulse sir, I must say.
Judge Thornwick (Kim)
Ah, thank you. What a magnificent and terrifying creature it must be. Impervious to the bullet and the blade. Strong enough to rip the back door off it’s hinges. Poor Poppy had a fright, let me tell you. The thing was in her room when I found it.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Curious. Might I ask Poppy a few questions as well? If she had any sort of exposure I want to make sure anything is contained.
Judge Thornwick (Kim)
You don’t suppose this thing was carrying diseases do you? It did look very frightful.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
It is difficult to say sir, but something of that size that managed to survive four bullets and a saber seems to be something we need to be concerned about. And if it is of unknown origin we need to make sure we handle it with great care.
Judge Thornwick (Kim)
I see. Poppy, forget the tea. Come out here. The doctor wants to take a look at you.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Your Honor, would you mind uh, a bit of privacy, in case any womanly things pop up.
Judge Thornwick (Kim)
Ah yes. I will leave you, ladies.
Kim
He stands up.
Judge Thornwick (Kim)
Excuse me doctor.
Kim
And heads upstairs. Poppy the maid pokes her head out, very nervous.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Hi dear. Nothing to be concerned about. Would you like a, uh–
Madeleine
And she holds her hand up and it’s a little barley twist in paper.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
A little treat.
Poppy the Maid (Kim)
Thank you. To be perfectly honest, I am finding it hard to eat very much since the incident, but I do think this will go down quite nicely.
Madeleine
And she’s also pulling out a flask from her Gladstone bag, and filling up an empty teacup nearby with - some sort of brown liquid.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
For you dear, this will definitely help with your nerves.
Kim
Her eyes widen a little in a “this is maybe a naughty thing to be doing while on-duty.”
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
We don’t need to tell anyone. I certainly won’t.
Poppy the Maid (Kim)
Very good, Miss.
Kim
And she raises the cup to her lips. Downs it.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
There’s a good girl.
Poppy the Maid (Kim)
(coughing) Judge Thornwick said you wanted to speak to me?
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Yes, it appears some rather unusual creature was hiding out in your bedchambers, was it?
Poppy the Maid (Kim)
Yes.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
We are trying to understand the origin of this creature. And exactly what it seems to be fixated on. Did you manage to catch a glimpse of the creature?
Kim
Dr. Branford, make the information move with presence.
Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Mmhmm. That’s a 4.
Kim
Poppy, steadied by the liquor, shrugs her shoulders.
[Eerie ambience]
Poppy the Maid (Kim)
I did get a good look at it, although I dare say I don’t think it got a good look at me. I found it in my room, it had gotten in through the back door then had headed back downstairs where I sleep. It was just standing there. As though it was staring at something about me. But it couldn’t have been staring because it didn’t have any eyes. I was frozen in terror, but snapped out of it when the judge charged it from behind with his sword from the army.
Kim
And right as she says this, you hear the buckling of wood and metal as the front door of 14 Portman Square is torn apart and silhouetted in the doorframe is this - horrible creature. 8-legged, winged, the head of a black wolf. With row after row of shark-like teeth going down its throat.
[metal hit]
[Shadows in the Smoke theme]
Kim
Shadows in the Smoke is a Kitten Marlowe production. This episode was edited and produced by Kim Dalton and featured a theme song by Jake Pierle. You can find out more about us by visiting Kitten Marlowe.com, signing up for our newsletter, or following us on socials. For discord access, an exclusive behind-the-scenes show, and more, visit Patreon.com/KittenMarlowe and join our cats, Virgil and Dante, and all of our incredible Kitten Marlowe patrons in supporting artist-driven storytelling. Thanks for listening.